The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a study of Federal agencies’ reported use of performance information.  The study was mandated by the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Modernization Act of 2010, which required agencies to collect and report performance information.

An Oct. 14, 2014 article, “Why Isn’t Performance Information Being Used?”, by the IBM Center for the Business of Government’s John Kamensky, looks at the report and its implications, concluding that “[i]t may be time to rethink the strategies for how best to encourage federal managers to use performance information in their jobs.”

As I see it, the problem federal agencies are experiencing is no different from that experienced by leaders of private and social sector organizations who try to use performance measures, or key performance indicators (KPIs), to help manage their organizations more effectively.